Since a surprising loss to Webster County back on December 14th, the Hopkinsville Tigers have gone scorched earth on the way to a three-game winning streak to push their record to 4-2. The Tigers have won those games by an average of 29 points, including Tuesday’s 79-46 blowout of Central in the City of Hopkinsville Toyota Holiday Classic.
The Tigers trailed 5-0 early but rallied to tie the game at 7-7 and never trailed again. Daisjaun Mercer knocked down a corner 3 to put Hoptown in front and they ended the quarter with a steal and dunk by Antonio Williams for an 18-10 advantage.
Central stayed in the game with some long-distance shooting, connecting on five 3-pointers in the 2nd quarter. Hoptown went up 12 on a steal and layup by Mercer, but Central’s Josh Bivens hit two of his four 3-pointers in the final minute to cut the margin to 37-30 at the break.
It was more of the same in the 3rd, with the Tigers taking a 12-point advantage on a Williams 3 and Central responding with a 9-4 spurt to cut it to seven and force a Hoptown timeout with 2:36 left in the quarter. A Mercer pull-up jumper gave the Tigers a 52-41 lead with a quarter to play.
Hoptown erupted in the 4th, with Bubba Leavell going on a personal 10-0 run to stretch the margin to 25 at 66-41. Central didn’t score over the first three minutes of the quarter and the Tigers closed with a 13-5 stretch for their second-largest win of the season.
Hopkinsville will meet undefeated Bowling Green in the tournament’s nightcap on Wednesday. The Purples dispatched Christian County 77-38 on Tuesday.
Hopkinsville 18 19 15 27 — 79
Central 10 20 11 5 — 46
Hopkinsville (4-2) — Leavell 17, Cabiness 13, Mercer 13, Williams 13, White 8, Johnson 7, Dowlen 2, Manning 2, Smith 2, Sykes 2
Central (4-5) — Bivens 14, Jones 13, Aquino 11, Colon 6, Davis 2
